Rise to the Summit
by SauronsHeir
Summary: Two hunters, Marcus and Magruder, are off to hunt the fabled Akantor. Will they succeed in their quest, or will they fail?


The Volcano. Hot and arid, little in the way of life. There was nothing but a hot wind to disrupt the silence, letting those whom lurked concentrate on the situation at hand. That was the way Marcus enjoyed it. Gripping his Smolder Dragonsword tightly in hand, the skilled hunter took his buddy, Magruder, up the side of a nearby cliff. A smile was stretched across Marcus' face as he took in a breath of volcanic air.

"Ah! I love the smell of the Volcano this early in the morning!" Marcus exclaimed.

"That's easy for you to say," Magruder grumbled, setting down his heavy Dragon Demolisher hammer. The burly man wiped his brow and dusted off his Diablos S armor's thick, scaly plates. "You don't have to lug around this damned thing."

"Oh, come on!" Marcus shouted. "It's not that bad, is it? I mean, at least you're going to make some money on this quest!" Marcus took off his Auroros Haku helm, cooling off his sweaty head. It had been a long, steep, and risky climb up here, and there was still no sign of the Battleground. He took out his trusty Reference guide and thumbed through it until he landed on the page he was looking for: _Akantor._

"So what's the guild say about this monster?" Magruder asked.

Marcus cleared his throat, aiming to talk in the most overly dramatic, announcer esque voice possible.

"_A wyvern truly wrapped in mystery. Known to some as the black god and to others as the tyrant of fire, this large and brutal creature is known to the Guild simply as Akantor..."_

"Sounds like a friendly fellow," the grizzled veteran remarked sarcastically. "Perhaps we can have a little tea party with him once we get there."

"Well, we haven't got all day," Marcus replied. "Come on, get up, get up!"

Magruder sighed. Marcus was right. He needed the money anyways. Times were tough back at Pokke village, and he had a wife and children to feed. Getting up to his feet and lifting the monstrous hammer up off of the floor, Marguder nodded to his spunky friend.

"Alright, Marcus, let's get this done before the damned heat gets to us."

"Sir, yes sir!" Marcus said with vigor. The two continued on the long trek up the steep cliff. Rocks tumbled off of the steep walls occasionally, with only a few safe ridges nearby for them to grasp onto or stand on if things went wrong. They saw little on their way up, save for a couple of Ioprey communicating. The rocky mountain was steep and dangerous; both Marcus and Magruder lost their footing on numerous occasions. The smell of sulfur and smoke grew stronger with each strained movement of arms and ached lifting of a leg. The jagged stones dug into each of the duo's gauntlets as they pulled themselves, the weight of their armor, and their weapons. After what felt like an eternity of climbing, they reached where they were headed: the battlefield.

The duo stood atop the high ridge, looking down into the bowl shaped arena. For being such a hot, arid area, the area had become infested with a large number of Basarios. The rock wyverns feasted on the rocks alongside the ridges, seeming to ignore the masterful hunters completely while they ate. Some bathed in the magma pools nearby, while other burrowed into the ground, leaving only their stone-like spines exposed. Whatever the reason, one had to be cautious around Basarios. While they weren't necessarily difficult to kill, there are worse things to worry about, than them…. Their parents often lurked nearby, watching from the distance…..

"Shhhh, let's be quiet now," Marcus said to his ally. Magruder nodded slowly. Soon, the two inched their way down the steep slopes, careful to avoid the Basarios that feasted on the machalite and dragonite ores abundant in the walls. The young wyverns seemed ignorant to the hunters and the potential danger they served. But as soon as Marcus reached for his back, they lost it. The Basarios groaned and bellowed with fear, all of them soon burrowing into the ground to leave.

"Crap, we've been spotted!" Marcus shouted.

Magruder chimed in, "And if there's Basarios, that means-"

A deeper, more baritone roar rung out in the volcano, as a positively huge rock wyvern stomped forward, a giant, mace-esque tail swishing about behind it as it approached. The duo realized it could only be one thing: Gravios. The savage wyvern spread its pinions wide before screaming into the heavens. Magruder knew that roar all too well: it meant that the beast was ready to attack. The creature took two steps forward before a spiraling beam of intense heat ripped forth from its maw, tearing towards the duo at high speeds.

"Watch out!" Magruder cried.

Eyes wide, both hunters dove to the side of the blast, narrowly avoiding getting fried. As both the hunters began to get to their feet, the beast charged. Each step the Gravios took towards them sunk its tonnage deep into the volcanic earth, tossing up chunks of superheated ash. Reaching into his pouch, Marcus flung a flash bomb at the monster, stunning it with a violent burst of light. Both hunters brought their hands up to protect their eyes from the blast, but the beast was not so fortunate. The dumb brute stumbled forward and slid across the ground face first. Marcus and Magruder ran behind the beast and readied their weapons. As the stone-tough beast turned, it readied to fire another beam of heat. However, the creature stopped.

"Why isn't it attacking?..." Marcus whispered to Magruder.

"She's scared," Magruder replied quietly. "She senses something dangerous."

"But what?" Marcus inquired as the Gravios began to back away from the hunters. The earth began to quake beneath them both, and the Gravios seemed to feel it too.

"I think we are about to find out," Magruder growled.

Almost as if on cue, a huge ridge of sharp, blackened spines burst forth from the earth, sending stones and ash flying in multiple directions. Emerging from the earth came forth a ferocious beast. Blood red eyes gleamed as its massive, tusked head burst out of the ground, and two muscular limbs pulled the rest of its body forth from the earth. A gigantic tail smashed down onto the ground, kicking up a cloud of ashes as it sniffed the air. Suddenly, it let out a horrifying roar. The noise was beyond description: it was loud and terrifying, almost sounding like hell itself had dug itself out of the volcanic ash and readied to attack. Both hunter and wyvern were petrified of the sight before them. The Gravios began to turn tail and flee, but the abomination charged towards its foe, each heavy step crushing everything in its path. It wasn't long before the monster was on its prey, sharp, steel like fangs piercing the wyvern's rock hard shell with little trouble. Once the predator, but now the prey, the Gravios struggled to free itself from the super beast's vice, but it stood no chance. The once proud ruler of the inferno was pulled closer to the horror's claws, pinned, and soon had its neck broken under its foe's tonnage. The beast roared into the heavens, announcing itself as king of the volcano. Marcus, once spunky and eager, whispered to Magruder in a horrified manner.

"Is that…. That what I think it is?"

"I can only assume," Magruder replied. He'd never hunted this beast before. He'd heard stories of it, but never seen it in person. It MUST be it: the Akantor.

The beast must have heard them whispering, for as they finished their brief conversation, the Akantor turned towards them now. Glistening fangs dripped a deadly saliva from its maw, splashing against the ash with an audible hiss. Marcus and Magruder readied their weapons before the beast charged. The sound of its tonnage sinking into the earth was quite intimidating, but both hunters kept their cool before they dove to the side of the beast, both narrowly dodging being crushed to a pulp. The beast turned around with the intent to strike them with its claws, but the hunters were ready. Marcus slashed his blade down towards the beast's paw, drawing blood with the blow. The Akantor screeched in pain before it shoved Marcus aside, nearly tossing him into one of the volcanic puddles lying nearby. The demonic monstrosity stomped towards Marcus, jaws agape to devour the hapless hunter. Suddenly, a yell was heard.

"Hey, ugly! Why don't you pick on someone who can fight? Or are you too cowardly?" It was Magruder, with his hammer at the ready. Snarling at Magruder, almost as if it had understood what he said, the creature whirled around, bringing its tonnage down towards the hunter. Waiting until the last possible moment, Magruder dove out of the way, as a massive quake shook the area from the force of the beast's attack. As the beast struggled to get up, Magruder brought his hammer down towards the abomination's face, smashing against its thick scales. However, the hammer simply bounced off, and the beast was able to rise to its feet without a hitch.

"Oh crap!" Magruder shouted as the beast snapped its jaws right where the hunter had been standing but a few seconds earlier. Before Magruder could react, the beast struck him with a paw, sending him hurtling into a wall and seemingly incapacitating him.

Marcus was horrified. "NOOOOO!"

Taking advantage of the beast's distraction, Marcus thrust his blade into the Akantor's ankle, causing it the hiss in anger. Moving quickly, the hunter withdrew his blade and ran as fast as he could away from the creature. The Akantor stomped after Marcus, eyes glowing with rage and blood thirst. Marcus did not know how much longer he'd be able to run. He was getting desperate, when he saw what he was looking for: a nice, tight space, between two large stones. It was far too small for the Akantor to get him, and was just large enough for him to squeeze inside. The hunter dove into the rocks, and soon forced himself as tightly as he could into the space. The Akantor smashed into the rock wall beside him with enough force to jostle a couple of boulders free. The beast knew Marcus was there. A single blood red eyes pressed up against the tight space Marcus jammed himself into, staring right at the hunter's face. Growling with irritation, the creature dug its sharp claws into the wedge, and began to pry the two stones apart. Small stone particles feel as the monster soon pulled apart the stones. All Marcus was able to do was stare at the Akantor. He knew he was doomed. The Akantor had him exactly where it wanted him: Magruder was down, and all it had to do was crush the puny hunter before it and it would be done with the battle. The monster's mouth was gathering with winds, and Marcus flinched and curled himself up, awaiting his cruel fate…..

However, unbeknownst to both the Akantor and Marcus, Magruder was not knocked out cold. The veteran got to his feet and dusted himself off. He was a bit dazed, but overall he was okay. The blow had hurt badly, and he felt a broken rib or two, but it was better than being stepped on or eaten. He turned towards where the Akantor was, only to see it charging after Marcus. Magruder knew Marcus was trapped. He only had a few seconds to get over there and attract the beast's attention. Moving quickly despite the extent of his injuries, Magruder climbed up the steep ridge with astounding speed and sprinted over towards his trapped ally. Up on this ridge, he had a height advantage on the Akantor, giving him a good chance to stun the beast and allow Marcus to escape. As he neared, he saw the creature was going to attack and finish off his friend. Not about to let that happen, Magruder shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Hey, you! Come and get me!"

Much to his surprise, the Akantor turned its attention from a potential kill and marched towards Magruder on his height advantage.

Marcus was surprised to hear Magruder's voice and see the Akantor turn its attention toward him. Suddenly, he saw a blinding flash of light, and the Akantor stumbled down the ridge and fell onto the ground, belly up. Marcus freed himself from the death trap and climbed up the Magruder's position.

"It's great to see you alive, buddy!" Marcus said.

"Good to see you too!" Magruder replied urgently. "Now let's get moving! I have a plan for our tusked friend…."

Marcus nodded. As the brief conversation finished, the Akantor rolled to its feet.

"Quickly! Up the ridge!" Magruder hollered. He pointed in the direction they were headed before he broke into a dead sprint. Marcus followed shortly afterwards. The Akantor was hot on their trail. Its razor sharp claws dug into the stony ridge, the tyrant pulling its monstrous weight up the steep sides after its foes. The two hunters sprinted towards a relatively tall cliff with a large bunch of loose rocks on top of it. Both hunters huffed and puffed as they ran over the ridge, but there was no way down. The ridge was roughly 100 feet tall, with only one small cliff poking out for them to land on. The two contemplated whether to find another way down or to take a leap of faith. As he pondered, Marcus turned for a brief moment, and, much to his dismay, he spotted the Akantor coming right up the ridge behind them. Both hunters, deciding to take the risk, jump down from their vantage point towards the cliff as the Akantor snapped its jaws at them. The two seemed to fall for an eternity, the steep ridge passing by them, before they landed on the small rock outcropping with a violent thud. Both of them groaned in pain as they got to their feet.

"Dammit…. Did we lose it?" Magruder growled.

"I think so…" Marcus replied, huffing and puffing. "So what was that about your plan?"

"You see that cliff over there?" Magruder pointed towards a ridge, elevated to about the height of the ridge. Atop it sat a large mound of boulders, almost waiting to be brought down.

"Yeah," Marcus replied.

"We're going to run over there, and drop those rocks on the bastard's head," the veteran said to his skilled hunter friend. As Marcus was about to respond to Magruder, but the Akantor had hopped down from the ridge to attack them. Seeing the beast hurtling toward them, both hunters jumped off of their roost, heading toward the ground once again at high speed. The Akantor had smashed where they were standing to pieces upon impact, and he was close behind them, also in free fall now. Soon, the hunters landed, quickly got their feet and ran towards the cliff. The Akantor slammed to the earth right behind them, and, shaking the ashes it had kicked up off of it, the beast staggered to its feet and charged after them. The Akantor was closing in on the duo, forcing them to spread out and take different paths toward the cliff. However, the beast was not fooled, and instead continued charging towards the cliff, knowing they were going to head there.

Marcus was the first to get to the cliff, followed shortly afterwards by Magruder.

Magruder spoke as the two caught their breath. "Alright, now all we have to do is climb up and-"

He was interrupted by the demonic roar of the Akantor, who soon smashed his way towards them. The beast's eyes glowed brightly, its mouth wide open to bite them or gore them on its monstrously huge tusks.

"Quickly! CLIMB! CLIMB!" Marcus heeded his ally's words and climbed as quickly as he could. As the two began to climb, the beast slammed headfirst into the cliff wall, jostling a few smaller stones free and sending them tumbling down to the earth. The hunters kept climbing, dust and dirt in their eyes, their gauntlets coated in ash. Each time they hoisted themselves up, each step they took up the steep cliff, every breath they took made them more and more exhausted. But they could not stop now. They had come too far to quit now. The Akantor was equally as persistent. Despite not being made for climbing, the foul demon tried its best to climb up after them, roaring and hissing all the way. Fear grasped both hunters, their heartbeats ringing in their ears as they climbed higher and higher up the steep cliff. The world seemed to go silent to them; even the originally deafening roars of the Akantor seemed to be muted by their intense concentration. After what felt like an eternity, both hunters reached the top of the steep cliff, arms aching. Seeing the Akantor was far behind, and struggling to climb up the cliff, both hunters pulled out some explosives and set them up at the base of the boulders. Marcus pulled out a match and lit it, before he turned to Magruder.

"Ready?" Marcus inquired.

"Let's finish this," Magruder replied with his usual serious tone.

Marcus nodded, tossed the match at the bombs, and both hunters leapt away as a humongous explosion rocked the top of the cliff. The force of the explosion sent the boulders tumbling down towards the hapless Akantor. The monster let out a scream of horror as the boulders slammed into it and sent it falling down to its death. The beast landed with a thunderous thud, and created a large plume of dust as the boulders crushed its body under their weight.

Both hunters glanced over the ridge and looked down at the damage that had been done. A sigh of relief exited them both.

"Let's go back to the guild," Marcus said with a sigh of resignation. Magruder nodded, and the two began to climb back down. They had a long journey back home, but they had slain the legendary Akantor…


End file.
